Kentucky had June precipitation totals ranking among their ten driest.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, as of July 3, 56.0% of the contiguous U.S. experienced drought conditions, marking the largest percentage of the nation experiencing drought conditions in the 12-year record of the U.S. Drought Monitor. Drought conditions improved across Florida, due to the rains from Tropical Storm Debby. Drought conditions worsened across much of the West, Central Plains, and the Ohio Valley, causing significant impacts on agriculture in those regions.

Tropical Storm Debby brought copious precipitation to Florida during June as it slowly traversed the state. Florida's monthly statewide precipitation total of 13.16 inches was 6.17 inches above average, ranking as the wettest June on record for the state. Parts of the Northeast, as well as the Pacific Northwest, were Washington each had a top ten wet June.

Several large wildfires raged across the West in June, destroying hundreds of homes and causing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residences. The very dry, warm, and windy weather created ideal wildfire conditions. Nationwide, wildfires scorched over 1.3 million acres, the second most on record during June.

U.S. climate highlights — Year-to-Date (January-June)

The January-June period was the warmest first half of any year on record for the contiguous United States. The national temperature of 52.9°F was 4.5°F above the 20th century average. 15 states were top ten warm.

Year-to-date temperature, by month, for 2012 (black), compared to the five warmest years on record for the contiguous U.S. The 2012 data are still preliminary. Please click for a more thorough explanation.

Washington had six-month precipitation totals among their ten wettest.

The U.S. Climate Extremes Index (USCEI), an index that tracks the highest and lowest 10 percent of extremes in temperature, precipitation, drought and tropical cyclones across the contiguous U.S., was a record-large 44 percent during the January-June period, over twice the average value. Extremes in warm daytime temperatures (83 percent) and warm nighttime temperatures (70 percent) covered large areas of the nation, contributing to the record high value.

During the June 2011-June 2012 period, each of the 13 consecutive months ranked among the warmest third of their historical distribution for the first time in the 1895-present record. The odds of this occurring randomly is 1 in 1,594,323.